Interested
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Ever played the Rifts RPG?
not sure if this goes on this board
the RPG Rifts i always thought had a somewhat plausible premise.
here's a brief bit on the backstory...
fwiw, the original rifts manual (around 1992), explained it much better.
All people, both in our time and in the time of the Rifts have a certain amount of potential psychic energy, or "P.P.E." Even the most analytical and rational doubters have this energy. It can be used for a variety of purposes but is largely untapped.
The hypothesized geographical phenominon "Ley Lines" genuinely exist in our world. These lines of mystical energy criss-cross the earth form supernatural geographic areas such as the Bermuda Triangle and at their nexus points form "places of power" such as Egyptian Pyramids and Stone Henge. These supernatural sources of power are scattered and as yet undetected by the modern science of today but are even more powerful at nexus points. Here, magical energy ripples and the very fabric of space and time can be occasionally be torn, allowing otherworldly creatures to slip through dimensional gateways known as "Rifts." Many Haunted Houses, it is assumed, are at the nexus of two ley lines, providing natural wellspring of fantastic events or an attraction for practitioners of magic or fantastic creatures present in our world.
Over the next 20-50 years, the world experiences a golden age. Nations come together and science flourishes. When the golden age begins to come to a close, so too do many alliances and much diplomacy, ending in a terrible war.
When nuclear war occurs, the death of billions of people simultaneously results in a massive burst of P.P.E. energy, energizing the formerly near-dormant Ley Lines, their Nexuses, and their dimensional portals, Rifts.
Humans surviving nuclear war experience a completely different world when they leave fallout shelters and remote areas. Earth is now bombarded by strange and fantastic creatures from these newly empowered Rifts.
Most activities in the Rifts world begin at approximately 200 years after the coming of the Rifts. Everything before the war is Pre-Rifts and a new year-counting system replaces A.D.: "Post-Apocolypse" or P.A.
The earth soon becomes a veritable hub of multi-dimensional activity with creatures and powerful beings from all over the multi-verse vying for control of its resources.
The Rifts game begins in a period where the remaining humans are adapting - as humans do - to their supernatural surroundings.
This setting has become excellent story-telling method. Rifts provide doors of magic connecting both time travellers and dimensional travelers of every kind. A variation on the time portals of science fiction, a Rift portal can lead anywhere the Game Master's mind creates - through time, space, or reality. The appeal of this premise is that literally anything can happen to a role-playing character in this kind of world. It is not uncommon for a game of Rifts to involve a wizard battling a fleet of flying robots, nor unthinkable for a Fairy creature to get a bionic arm.
[edit]
World Highlights
Interesting gaming elements of note:
The Ley Lines, formerly invisible, now dominate the landscape, appearing as massive lines of bluish energy half a mile wide, and stretching for up to thosands of miles. The largest can even be seen from space, at least glowing at night.
Mexico and much of South America is populated by a civilization of Vampires.
Atlantis has resurfaced in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.
An imperialistic "Coalition" provides one of the final and strongest vestigaes of civilization while maintaining a fascist view against dimensional beings and nearly all things magic and psychic.
not sure if this goes on this board
the RPG Rifts i always thought had a somewhat plausible premise.
here's a brief bit on the backstory...
fwiw, the original rifts manual (around 1992), explained it much better.
All people, both in our time and in the time of the Rifts have a certain amount of potential psychic energy, or "P.P.E." Even the most analytical and rational doubters have this energy. It can be used for a variety of purposes but is largely untapped.
The hypothesized geographical phenominon "Ley Lines" genuinely exist in our world. These lines of mystical energy criss-cross the earth form supernatural geographic areas such as the Bermuda Triangle and at their nexus points form "places of power" such as Egyptian Pyramids and Stone Henge. These supernatural sources of power are scattered and as yet undetected by the modern science of today but are even more powerful at nexus points. Here, magical energy ripples and the very fabric of space and time can be occasionally be torn, allowing otherworldly creatures to slip through dimensional gateways known as "Rifts." Many Haunted Houses, it is assumed, are at the nexus of two ley lines, providing natural wellspring of fantastic events or an attraction for practitioners of magic or fantastic creatures present in our world.
Over the next 20-50 years, the world experiences a golden age. Nations come together and science flourishes. When the golden age begins to come to a close, so too do many alliances and much diplomacy, ending in a terrible war.
When nuclear war occurs, the death of billions of people simultaneously results in a massive burst of P.P.E. energy, energizing the formerly near-dormant Ley Lines, their Nexuses, and their dimensional portals, Rifts.
Humans surviving nuclear war experience a completely different world when they leave fallout shelters and remote areas. Earth is now bombarded by strange and fantastic creatures from these newly empowered Rifts.
Most activities in the Rifts world begin at approximately 200 years after the coming of the Rifts. Everything before the war is Pre-Rifts and a new year-counting system replaces A.D.: "Post-Apocolypse" or P.A.
The earth soon becomes a veritable hub of multi-dimensional activity with creatures and powerful beings from all over the multi-verse vying for control of its resources.
The Rifts game begins in a period where the remaining humans are adapting - as humans do - to their supernatural surroundings.
This setting has become excellent story-telling method. Rifts provide doors of magic connecting both time travellers and dimensional travelers of every kind. A variation on the time portals of science fiction, a Rift portal can lead anywhere the Game Master's mind creates - through time, space, or reality. The appeal of this premise is that literally anything can happen to a role-playing character in this kind of world. It is not uncommon for a game of Rifts to involve a wizard battling a fleet of flying robots, nor unthinkable for a Fairy creature to get a bionic arm.
[edit]
World Highlights
Interesting gaming elements of note:
The Ley Lines, formerly invisible, now dominate the landscape, appearing as massive lines of bluish energy half a mile wide, and stretching for up to thosands of miles. The largest can even be seen from space, at least glowing at night.
Mexico and much of South America is populated by a civilization of Vampires.
Atlantis has resurfaced in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.
An imperialistic "Coalition" provides one of the final and strongest vestigaes of civilization while maintaining a fascist view against dimensional beings and nearly all things magic and psychic.
